Weekly Report for Week Ending March 2, 2000

The LIGO Executive Committee Agenda for Monday  March 6, 2000 will be:
 (Meeting time: 10:30 am Pacific Time)

Open meeting 10:30 - 11:30

1. Announcements
2. LSC Issues (Weiss)
3. Comments on Weekly Report
4. WBS 1 LIGO I Construction (Lindquist)
• Field Change Orders/Contingency Liens/Change Requests
5. WBS 2 LIGO Lab Operations
• Administration (Lindquist)
• Sites (Raab, Coles, Shoemaker, Sanders)
• Detector (Whitcomb, Coyne)
• Campus Research Facilities (Weinstein (40 Meter), Libbrecht (TNI), Zucker(LASTI))
• Data Analysis and Computing (Lazzarini)
6. WBS 3 and 4  Advanced R&D and LIGO II (Sanders)

Special Items:

Special Announcements:

Weekly Report Highlights

LHO arm cavity locks for 2 hours and has wavefront sensing to boot and ...

More on the arm test...

The LLO PSL moves a step forward

LSC Issues (Weiss)

Primary activity of the LSC is currently the preparation for the
forthcoming meeting. The meeting will include sessions of all
LSC technical development groups, the data analysis groups,
the LIGO/LSC facility advisory groups and also the group chartered to make the
recommendation on the LIGO II isolation system. Some of the issues that will
arise are:

- A new group at Carlton College, desiring to join the LSC, will
present a proposed program of LIGO research.

- Organizational issues to be discussed at the meeting include: the
LIGO/VIRGO visitors program, methods of distributing engineering
data, current methods of reviewing LSC publications and
presentations, the methods of organizing the research to maintain
a schedule for LIGO II, a discussion at the executive committee meeting of
arranging the LSC to be able to respond quickly to new initiatives.

- Technical issues to be discussed include presentations about the two proposed
isolation systems for LIGO II.

- Data analysis issues to be discussed include the method that has
been developed for data analysis proposal reviews, the preparation of a
revised White Paper on Data Analysis which provides a program view and not
only the tasks taken on by individual groups.

- Presentations to be given to inform the LSC about current
activities include : the ACIGA initiative, the GWIC meetings and resolutions,
a review of the LDAS plan.

LIGO I Construction/LIGO Laboratory Administration (Lindquist)

WBS 1.2 LIGO Operations--Administration

LIGO Weekly Site Telecon (Jasnow)

Property Management--We have a long-open action regarding the proper identification of Caltech/Government Property which derives from an action assigned by Caltech Internal Audit almost a year ago. LIGO has provided the information required by Federal Accounting to address the audit report concerns.  Phil was assigned an action to prepare a memo requesting closeout.

From: Ed Chargois <chargois_e@ligo.caltech.edu>

Nothing Significant to report

From: the DCC <dcc@ligo.caltech.edu>

ACTIVITY HIGHLIGHTS

• For this week's processing statistics, check the DCC web page.

 

	Packages	Faxes
In	33	29
Out	12	52

Special Projects: Finished folding and stamping electronic printouts of Livingston as-built drawings.  Started to work on folding and stamping Hytec electronic drawings.

From: Esther Cunningham <esther@ligo.caltech.edu>

Press here for ACCOUNTS PAYABLE HISTORY DATA.

From: "Brambila, Ruth" <Ruth.Brambila@caltech.edu>

LIGO Contracts:
Prepared a list of LIGO's contracts and blankets as requested by Jose Tiana.  A copy of the list was provided to Ed Jasnow, Irena Petrac and Dorothy Lloyd for review and input as to which contracts should be closed and removed.   A few were closed out and encumbrances released per Ed's request.  A few more are pending to be closed out.  I will updating this list regularly and keeping it for reference to reflect the current Oracle order number along with the original IFIS subcontract number.

Wired:
Met with Wired and LIGO to discuss computer orders.  Gina and I are working with Acquisitions management to determine how requisitions provided to Acquisitions will be forwarded to Wired.  We are also looking at LIGO's special circumstances where orders must ship directly to the observatories to see how this will be handled as we understand that Wired only provides delivery to the campus. [See Ed Jasnow's report below.--pel]

From: Florence Kaufman <fkaufman@ligo.caltech.edu>

• Worked on the Operations Report for February.
• Continued Beta Testing of Discoverer reports.  Identified and provided information on problems noted to Beth Moore and Sue Matter.
• Attended Satellite Video Conference on computation of Indirect Costs on March 7th.
• Set up report groups using Discoverer to assist Cindy with preparation of her monthly reports.

For a listing of the FY 2000 POETA Accounts see

http://docuserv.ligo.caltech.edu/docuserv/home/accts_ops.pdf

http://docuserv.ligo.caltech.edu/docuserv/home/accts_adv.pdf

From: irena@ligo.caltech.edu (Irena Petrac)

• Creath: CO #7 for a no-cost extension through 11-30-00 was released to CIT Acquisition.
• MIT: CO #7, incorporating the FY'00 budget, is pending NSF's approval. [I spoke with David Berley today concerning MIT approval.  An approval to proceed may be provided with the caveat that some additional information is required from MIT (e.g. the standard NSF Proposal Budget Forms for Construction, Operations, Advanced R&D, and Total).--pel
• Butler: CO #11, consolidating the FY'99 accounts and providing additional funds for FY'00, is in Project Controls Group review.
• FDC/NYMA: CO #25, consolidating the FY'99 accounts, is being definitized.

#From: Ed JasnowFrom: Ed Jasnow <jasnow@acrux.ligo.caltech.edu>

Three quotations have been received for erosion control at Livingston.  The method to be used involves laying down mesh over grass seed, and seeding again.  The low quotation was from Richard Price Construction for $125,000.  A modification for this effort will be added to their existing contract.

There has been a delay in implementing the pilot project under which LIGO could use P-cards for travel..This has been caused by the fact that the Accounts Payable Group has not had the opportunity to develop the full set of requirements necessary for the development the software module required for this additional capability.  The delay should be no longer than two weeks.

Irene Baldon

Worked on preparing the paper work for 20 new trips taken recently or upcoming (20 Payment Requests and 7 Advance Requests). There are approximately 9 new trips in various stages pending completion of travel arrangements before the paperwork can be completed.

Completed 25 Expense Reports, some of which were extensive, involving 2-3 or more pages each. There are 39 Expense Reports still to be done. I'm holding 1 completed Expense Report which requires a check from the Traveler before sending to Travel Audit to clear.

Performed normal recording and filing associated with Travel and Reimbursement.

Prepared the Travel/Vacation Itinerary for the Week of March 6, 2000.

Dorothy Lloyd

The processing of requisitions, invoices and receiving on-line continues. For more detail see "Cost Schedule Control Systems" report by Esther Cunningham.

Monitored contract and blanket order funding levels and notified task managers where supplements needed to be made.

Worked on updating PO Log books using the new POETAs as time permitted.

Attended Acquisition meeting on "Speedy Ordering System," which reviewed purchasing policies and procedures, and concluded with question and answer session with regard to inputting orders within Oracle.

Rita Torres

For I. Petrac formatted, from PA's email, the 6-month LSC report for Penn State; submitted electronically for DCC posting after review. Did same for University of Florida. Helped to close out files: D. Redding, JPL work orders, J. Robinson. Did CO#7 with K. Creath, obtained Oracle requisition number. Did letters to FedEx Attachments to MOUs with: GEO, Texas at Brownsville, ACIGA, Tama, Oregon, and Michigan.

Did trip updates to the sites, posted on the web. Usual P-card activities: received credit check from MWS Wire Industries, submitted check to D. Lloyd, also closed on a strange charge from September that appears on today's reconcile screen. Newark did not report that charge until February, so it appears now.

Spent time purging the list of 1999 Poetas. Also verified that I have only the year 2000 Poetas on current P-card transactions.

INFORMATION - From Graphic Arts "Connections," Winter 1999/2000.  Use zip code 91125-0034 (ends with our building code). This code apparently helps to reduce time for Mail staff to sort out the mail, and helps to get our mail here faster.

Elizabeth K. Wood

Worked with Phil to submit LIGO's annual report to the NSF through FastLane.

Am attending a meeting to discuss immigration and green cards on Thursday afternoon, an issue that impacts LIGO quite a bit.

Began setting up hotel reservations for the NSF site review in May.

LIGO II (Frey)

Progress Period from 2.28 to 3.9

Accomplishments:

• Primavera Enterprise software is understood regarding capabilities and limitations.
• NT server is up and running with NT Server software and Oracle Server software.
• Discussions are progressing regarding the development of the LIGO II Proposals.
• Proposal Development Plan is being created for review and use at weekly meetings.

• Weekly meetings on Monday afternoon from 1 to 3pm regarding the planning and control of the LIGO II proposal development.
• Completion of software setup to be determined or unknown.

Anticipated Challenges:
We anticipate that the need of having a Oracle DBA is a challenge for initial and ongoing support.  The intention of the implementation process was that we would be able to set up all the software using staff that is already available on the LIGO team.  This intention was based upon the representation of the P3e product by the Primavera Systems Sales Rep whom interfaced with the LIGO team.  The need of a Oracle DBA is both a cost and schedule issue.

Corrective Action:
The following are suggested as options to expedite the implementation and set up of the Primavera Systems Software.

Option 1 - If we stay with Oracle the following needs to happen ASAP:

• Acquire the support of an Oracle DBA immediately.  We are currently pursing this option to determine if we can rely on Cal Tech's ITS department or seek a contractor.
• Based upon conversations with Primavera Systems the initial set up of the Oracle environment is about a weeks worth of work with ongoing support as needed.  And as they said, it will be needed.
• Provide training to available staff to minimize the need for an Oracle DBA outside of the teams current staff.

• This option would alleviate the need for an Oracle DBA or the need for any additional training.  P3 3.0 is an office compliant product that has a proven track record in the NT environment.  It is still a central database solution that will support multiple users over a network.
• We can approach Primavera with this choice and they will provide a full exchange of software and we will not have any additional cost impact.  In fact, when considering the cost of the Oracle Server software we will receive additional user licences that we do not have today.
• P3 3.0 is a fully developed product with HTML and e-mail support as well as extensive import / export capability that will allow all collaborative efforts to proceed as planned.
• Finally, we can have the software up and running on the NT server with in a few days.

General Comments:
As an individual that has over 10 years experience working with planning software and in particular Primavera Systems software, I cannot overstate the fact that P3e is not a fully developed product at this point in time.   P3 3.0 is a fully developed product that will meet the needs of the LIGO project for years to come.  While P3e is a client server product, it is truly only valuable when there are 100s of simultaneous hits to the database.  Please advise regarding the direction of choice.

• A DRAFT of the Annual Report (end of November 1999) was distributed last week for review.  Some comments have been received and incorporated into the report.  It will be distributed to Project Management for final review prior to sending it to the NSF just as soon as we can figure out how to make a nice color print over the network.

See: http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/~phil/AnnualReport/November99.pdf
• A reminder that we must prepare a Quarterly Progress Report for the Quarter ending February 2000.  I will be requesting this material over the next few weeks.

The following change requests have been submitted:
 

Press for the latest Contingency Needs Projection.

From: Kris Duncan <kris@ligo.caltech.edu>

• No report this week.

• I have been working on the various reports for the month of February 2000.
• I continue to work on closing out the open encumbrances for the Construction and Advanced R&D accounts.
• I am updating the FTE data.
• I am forever continuing to track and correct the forever continuing errors. [Charges continue to go against summary Work Breakdown Structure elements because ORACLE seems unable to differentiate between Task 2.10 and 2.1.  Administration was supposed to have resolved this for us, but mischarges continue to add up and now total in the six figures! I propose a LIGO ORACLE Problem Report to David Werntz.--pel]

 

Quality/Safety (Tyler)

LIGO Livingston reports that they have worked/corrected must all of the items we identified in the draft Livingston Safety Audit report. Cas, Mike and I should have the final report ready next week.   Also, Cas and I are still working our action item regarding a guideline of when to use a "Buddy System"
 

LIGO Hanford Observatory (LHO) Operations (Raab)

General Items:
--------------
(F. Raab)

We are sending David Ottoway and Haisheng Rong to Louisiana for mode
cleaner commissioning. This will provide some continuity from the
experience at Hanford and give David a chance to see what is entailed.
Haisheng will move to join the UF staff in Louisiana later this spring and
David will take over as the input optics guru at Hanford.

Corey Gray is giving a seminar at Salish-Kootenai College in Montana and
visiting area high schools. These schools serve a large Native American
community in the Northwest, which is typically underrepresented in science.
Corey's contact with SKC arose from his talk at an AISES (American Indian
Science and Engineering Society?) meeting and he will be sharing his
own experiences as a Native American pursuing science as a career.

I was visiting the University of Washington last week to present a
physics colloquium and to discuss possible UW-LIGO joint efforts in the
future. There was also a meeting with UW faculty and staff, associated with
the Quark-Net outreach effort, and me to compare notes on our respective
outreach plans. On the way back to LHO, I spent a day at Gladstone High
School visiting with Dale Ingram and the students involved in LIGO's
Student, Scientist, Teacher (SST) program. The students showed off more
than half a dozen independent study projects spawned from the SST
internships of last summer at LIGO and the focus on LIGO seismic data
analysis in Mr. Ingram's physics class last semester. I also got a chance
to talk with other teachers and administrator's at the school to thank them
for their support and encourage them to keep thinking outside the traditional
educational box.

Christine Patton and Oudone have been improving on the guest computer
capabilities at LHO. Two new features will be (1) better access to scanner
and digital camera software (you won't need to use many different machines)
and (2) institution of a VPN account to provide easier access to on-line
journals and journal photocopying services.

In commissioning news, Daniel Sigg is smiling big smiles after succeeding
in getting the wavefront servoes to lock, and I am trying to understand
why the earth-tide calculation done by my SURF student, Eric Morganson,
seems to get the tidal amplitude right, except for a 90-minute time
discrepancy. Stan and company were going for a record on time-in-lock this
week, but they threw in the towel when the arm would NOT fall out of lock
after 2 hours! In the interest of getting other work done they purposely
threw the arm out of lock. Michael Landry is looking into writing some
code to automatically relock the arm, so we can go for some long stretches
in unattended operation.

Bake Oven:
----------
(K. Ryan)

LHO vacuum bake oven load #80, consisting of LLO and LHO 4k Pick off Mirror assemblies,
was released earlier this week.  This was the load that was cleaned with
an excessively high concentration of "PROTEX".  The RGA scan was normal
nonetheless.

Load #81,  consisting of the majority of eight ETM telescope assemblies, is
vacuum baking and should be released on Monday, 3-13-00.

Load #82 should consist of what remains of the eight ETM telescope
assemblies at a minimum.

Optics:
---------------------
(D. Cook)

We wound up last weeks events of re-aligning the ETMx-2k optic. Despite
some problem it was deemed a success. We ended up gaining about a 30%
improvement on the alignment. This gives the SUS controller an improved
steering range. I have spent the majority of the week revising an optical
lever procedure and improving on the calibration fixtures that are
required. We managed to measure the violin frequency of ETMy-2k as a side
task to the re-alignment using a speaker to excite the wire and measuring
the ring down after removing the speaker. Measuring the frequency using a
microphone coupled into a signal analyzer(365.5HZ). I will be amending the
re-alignment procedure document after receiving input back from everyone
that was involved with this last task. There an e-log entry by Rai Weiss
with the particulars of last weeks findings.

Controls:
---------

CDS
D.Barker

Design, Coded and Testing Arbitary Waveform Generator code which runs on
the mid and end station ADCUs. The ADCU code for these systems now
responds to an interrupt generated by the ICS115 DAC instead of the
ICS110A ADCs. If any of the four DAC output channels are being driven
with a waveform, the ADCU feeds that signal from reflective memory to
the DAC, otherwise null data is sent.

Code is being tested on the MSR test stand, which runs as MY ADCU and
drives a Fine Actuator PZT controller. The system will be first used to
measure the transfer function of the fine actuation system in MX BSC.

Gave operator training, performed usual sys admin tasks, working with
LDAS on installing a Linux PC.

Controls
C. Patton

Continued design and implementation of a PID controller for the LN2 fill
valve on the cryopumps.

Updated ICS115 driver code to handle both 32 and 4 channel inputs.
Reviewed 115 driver code with D. Barker.

Took delivery of some shelving for the LDAS beowulf cluster.  Moved the
shelving into the warehouse for storage.  Still working with Larry
Wallace to get some shelving pieces that were the wrong size shipped
back.

Gave operator training on common troubleshooting methods.
 

LIGO Livingston Observatory (LLO) Operations (Coles)

PSL: The PSL was upgraded by Peter King and Rich Abbot the week of Feb 28-March 3. A failed PSL power supply was replaced March 6.

Mode Cleaner: Re-alignment of the mode cleaner began Wednesday and will hopefully conclude Thursday night in preparatio for Friday pumpdown.  A pair of irises have been inserted between the top periscope mirror and the beam tube within the PSL enclosure to capture the position and angle of the beam before it enters HAM1. This will be used as a reference to recover the alignment quickly should it be necessary later.

OPTICS: ETM-x installation is nearing completion. Alignment check is in progress.

GDS: TrueTime network file server is up and running. Szabi installed the new cable for the GPS antenna and moved the antenna to a new better/closer position. The network server is accessible throught the 10.100.240.1 ip number.

LIGO-TriNet Seismic Station (SNE): Szabi made several full day seismic surveys of candidate sites on LLO property and adjacent to it to identify locations with the least noise. The property on the south arm on the opposite side of the borrow pit (the small isolated triangle of property) is probably the best choice, because it is further removed from activity, but studies are on-going.

LLO-SAS: The high force shaker design is completed.

Beam tube bakeout: Y1 beam tube RGA scans are good and we are buttoning up the system. One more measurement will be made after the 10" port hardware is installed and baked. We are moving to y2 for the final bake!

Community relations: Doyle High School (Livingston) Physics Class and the Livingston Cub Scouts toured the site this week. We are averaging 2-3 tours per week now.
 

MIT (Shoemaker)

All activities for this week are covered in other categories.

Caltech (Sanders)

All activities for this week are covered in other categories.

Detector/Technical Support (Whitcomb, Coyne)

DETECTOR

See also the daily electronic logs for the installation and commissioning activities:
Hanford Detector Log
Livingston Detector Log
(The multiple electronic logs or the Detector at Hanford will be combined into one in the near future.)

Notes: (1) We are experimenting with a new format for the Detector section of the weekly report. Expect this to change as we attempt to make it more informative, easier to assemble and generally sexier. Please send comments or complaints to Dennis Coyne.
(2) Weekly report contributors: Just because you don't see something you reported included below, doesn't mean it shouldn't have been in your report; The content below is edited to contain content thought to be of wide interest (generally).

1.0 INSTALLATION (including fabrication and subsystem test)

1.1 LHO

Seismic Isolation (Larry Jones)

At the Y-end station (WBSC10), installed crossbeams, support tubes and the down-tube/optics table assembly.
Ribbon cable bench assemblies were completed for the end station BSCs.
Bench checkouts/setups of the PZTs and controllers for X mid BSC SEI fine stages are in progress.

COS (Mike Smith)

PO Telescope: The cleaned PO Telescope parts from Allied were received by LHO and are in the process of being baked. Hardware and fasteners will be sent to LHO by 3/10. The 2K APS telescope input baffle is being reworked and will be shipped the week of 3/13.
PO Telescope Optical Train: Periscope posts, bases and mirror mount brackets will be sent to LHO by 3/10
Arm Cavity Baffle: The cleaned Arm Cavity Baffle parts from Allied are expected to be shipped to LHO the week of 3/13. Glass for the arm cavity baffle is being fabricated and is expected to be shipped to LHO the week of  3/13.
Faraday Isolator: The Faraday isolator magnet parts are being pre-cleaned by EOT and the half-wave plates are being final-cleaned by KLC; all are expected to be shipped to LHO the week of 3/13.

LSC Electronics (Dale Ouimette, Mohana, Paul)

Split the Common Mode Servo into two EUROCARD modules (just too big) and completing the schematics and locating parts; should be ready to start the PCB layout in a day or so. We built a prototype of the 16 step variable gain amplifier and all looks well so far except for glitches resulting from the fact that the gain switching is faster than the Op Amp slew rate; We're still beating on it.
SPICE simulations of the CM Servo circuit indicates that the noise at the MC Additive Offset output and ITMy output are within the noise spec. The MC Length output is about a factor of two over the spec (19nV/rt-Hz instead of 10nV/rt-Hz at 200 Hz). I may find time to improve it a little more, but this may be what we get (assuming my modeling is correct).
The LSC Anti-alias filter board is being routed, parts ordered, and will be ready to send to the board house early next week.

Suspension (Jay Heefner)

5 coherent detection satellite amplifiers are fab'd and tested. They are being  mounted in boxes and should be ready to ship to LHO for tests by 3/10.
A low distortion version of the Pentek 6102 DAC module has been received. Jay will measure the output noise of this module. Once the output noise is known the final design for the universal whiteniing filter can be completed.

1.2 LLO

IO (Sany Yoshida, David Reitze, David Tanner)

Dave Reitze is at LLO this week, planning to complete the installation of the in-vacuum IOO components. The Faraday isolator has been aligned in the optics lab and will be placed on the HAM1 table. Alignment of the beam through the mode cleaner, as well as alignment of the reflected and transmitted beams is planned for this week.

End Test Mass Chamber Installation (Ken Mason, Mike Smith, Jonathan Kern)

During the past week we installed and aligned the ETMx optic, ETM telescope, and ETM transmission monitor. The low reflectivity of the ETMx HR surface at the wavelength of our alignment lasers (670nm) forced us to align from the AR surface (as viewed in refraction through the HR surface, based on a previous measurement of the refraction angle). Unsuccessful attempts were made to adjust the temperature to improve the coating reflectance at 670nm (too sensitive). (Note: The ETMx alignment is being completed 3/10.)

2.0 COMMISSIONING (incl. diagnostics and characterization)

2.1 LHO

One Arm Test (Peter Fritschel, Nergis Mavalvala, Rai Weiss, Daniel Sigg, David Shoemaker, Dick Gustafson, Stan Whitcomb)

This week we have focussed on getting the wavefront sensing for the 2km arm cavity going. We determined the the alignment sensitivity matrix by exciting the angular degrees of freedom for ITMx and ETMx (using the GDS excitation engine!) and measuring the reponse on the wavefront sensors. We found that there was a very small signal from the ETM.

We measured the geometric parameters of the beam exiting the APS telescope and arriving on IST10 to be somewhat different than we expected from design. We compensated this by moving the lenses of the Guoy phase telescope and were able to obtain good signal separation for the ETM and ITM.

We were then able to close the feedback loops on all four degrees of freedom. In addition to the benefits of working with an aligned cavity, we note that the alignment control of the 2km arm cavity exercises most of the digital(!) ASC system for the interferometer.

Mechanical resonances in the PSL/IO table optical components:

All components on the LHO 2k PSL/IO table were excited with a fingertap, and the frequencies and strength noted in the mode cleaner control spectrum. Some very sensitive components found and interesting sounds heard; probably explains some of the forest of peaks in 100-700 Hz spectrum (Nergis, David Shoemaker)

Optical lever calibration:

Worked on establishing a practical procedure and jigs for calibration.  (Doug Cook, David Shoemaker)

Seismic isolation table angular motion:

Optical levers were set up on LHO 4k HAM and BSC isolation stages, and the optlevs calibrated. Spectra, and transfer functions from a seismometer to the optlev output, were measured to check the angular excitation of the table. At low frequencies (microseismic peak) the motion is ~1/10 rad/m; at stack resonances 1-10 Hz, peaks of several 10-40 rad/m were observed (David Shoemaker)

LHO one arm data transient analysis:

Julien Sylvestre implemented a transients identification pipeline for the one arm LHO data (spectrogram, bursts id, coincidence between channels, time series extraction).

2.2 LLO

PSL (Peter King, Rich Abbott)

The newest version of the frequency stabilization servo (Rev. C) was installed and successfully test driven.  The in-the-loop frequency noise measurement is consistent with the PSL frequency noise requirements (see figure)

 
The good news is that the servo unity gain frequency has been increased from approx. 300 kHz to approx. 1 MHz which would facilitate increasing the
servo gain.
 
A temporary intensity stabilization servo was installed using the photodetector after the PMC.  The result achieved is shown in the figure.

 
The AOM-based intensity stabilization servo card was modified for use with the current shunt by removing 10 Hz pole to flatten the gain profile.  The gain was variable from approx. 30 to 62 dB, which is more than adequate judging from the results achieved with the SR560 pre-amplifier.

The laser power supply indicated a fault condition. Another power supply (one which was just upgraded) was shipped from Lightwave Electronics and found to solve the problem.

3.0 Other Engineering and Scientific Activities

Optics Metrology (GariLynn Billingsley)

The three flat test is still underway.  We are incorporating flat F into a  few of the combinations.  Flat F is our second Clapham-Dew coated piece, analogous to flat C which is used for all of our measurements of coated  optics.  This is being done as a measure of insurance in case anything unfortunate should ever happen to flat C.
Erik Novak of Veeco metrology gave a seminar March 7th and 8th in 114 E. Bridge.  The seminar was an overview of interferometric optical testing, including lenses and aspheres, etc..  He had a new WYKO 4100 on an itsy bitsy air table at the front of the room.  The fringes of the 633 nm interferometer were much more stable than the fringes of our WYKO 6000 located in Lauritsen.   ...Hmmm.

ISC (Mike Zucker, Peter Fritschel, Matt Smith)

Received and began testing video camcorders for beam alignment and stray beam safety inspection of ISC tables.
Embarked upon a redesign of the ETM transmission monitor assembly to ease the alignment onto the quad diode and prevent aperture clipping. The new layout and opto-mechanical design should be assembled and fit checked by the end of this week.  We would need to retrofit some of the current housing pieces.

Continued to prepare DCNs for the optical lever assemblies, ETM transmission monitor assemblies (although in redesign now), and laying out the IOT tables for the 4K.
 

Took a second pass at requesting quotations from fibercoupled laser diode vendors to address reliability problem experienced at LHO.  One vendor has been extremely helpful, and has shared proprietary MTTF data which indicate it should be possible to do much better.  We are getting a clearer understanding;  we will probably try to operate our existing lasers at lower power in an effort to preserve them longer, and also buy a limited number of replacements with modified specifications to test over the long term.
 
DAC antialiasing filter modules (Sander Lui)
The field reported instances of antialiasing filter modules popping out of sockets while making external connections to the chassis. This problem can be easily solved by adding two stripes of D-shaped EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference) gaskets on the underside of the chassis lid. The gaskets will exert a mild pressure on the modules to keep them in place. We have received our order of the gaskets and Paul is in the process of sending them to the field for retro-fitting. In the process of procuring low noise linear power supplies for the Antialiasing Filter Chassis in the field.

3.1 Issues Concerns

3.2 Site Support

40 Meter Interferometer (Weinstein)

March 9, 2000

• Dennis Ugolini is commissioning the VME crate and associated hardware for epics-based control of the 40m vacuum system. He set up memory addressing on vacuum VME modules so that the entire chain from VME IO modules to epics display and control is operational.
• AJW, Ugolini, and Vass met with Larry Wallace to discuss plans for the networking layout at the 40m (not very different from what we have now); this will all go into the evolving document describing, in gory detail, the current status of cpus and networks at the 40m lab (for epics control, daqs, etc), and proposing a coherent organization for the networks, cpus, and ALL 40m software. Current draft: /home/dugolini/computing.pdf.
• Larry, with AJW and Dennis, resolved many of the numerous networking problems associated with the cpus at the 40m lab and the cds servers (kater -> luna). The RAID array is still unavailable, and I guess we need Rolf's help to get it going again. But, we can now run DAQS (and log frames onto a 2GB disk that we found, unmounted, on cdssol9).
• The 40m was vented on 3/6, and the test mirrors from Jordan's contamination test facility were removed and tested. Details in here.
• Steve has just completed the vacuum maintenance on the 40m pumpspool: changed oil in rotory pumps, replaced turbos bearing lubricant wicks, replaced oily forelines to turbos and now replacing faulty cold cathode at the maglev.
• AJW is preparing a revised optical design document for the 40m upgrade, to be discussed at the LSC meeting next week.

Thermal Noise Interferometer (Libbrecht)

LASTI (Zucker)

LASTI (zucker)
--------------
Mechanical components:
The load of BSC and HAM seismic isolation components from Allied
has now been moved into the high bay, uncrated, and stored "clean"
for installation staging. The lab will now be re-cleaned to restore
particle counts to their usual levels (uncrating outside was not
practical due to handling concerns).
 

The rigging activity also required removal of our chilled water piping
(cooling for turbo and roughing pumps) which runs under the high bay
rollup door. A few leaks appeared when they were reconnected; we hope
to have the vacuum pumps functional again by Thursday.
 

Vacuum system:
Installation continues on the vacuum system pumping and
instrumentation.  Some surplus parts obtained from PSI turned out
to be the wrong size, so we are developing
a workaround for mounting our RGA/gauge nipple.  There was also
an interference problem on the annulus ion pump attachments which
may be related to tolerances on some welded chamber brackets.
 

Interferometer:
A draft plan for LASTI interferometer tests to support the LIGO II
effort has now been circulated to the LASTI advisory panel for
comment and discussion at the upcoming LSC meeting.  Please
contact Peter Saulson, David Shoemaker or Mike Zucker if you are
interested.

Data Analysis and Computing (Lazzarini)

Simulation and Modeling

LIGO Lock Acquisition

Matt built a e2e model to generate the seismic and the suspension point
motion,
which is consistent with the LIGO standard. Some extra time was needed
to
complete this because of the "unusual  convention" of matlab's PSD
function,
which had been discovered by Fred.

Matt finished the design from state 4  (all mirrors at locked position,
but the power is not filled yet) to state 5 (all locked and fully
powered).
He is now working to design from stage 2 (SB locked in Michelson) to
stage 4.

Hiro updated the simulation program in order to make this locking
simulation
setup easier and faster, like various vector and matrix operations.

Ringdown

Haisheng provided Hiro the new measurement of the modulation depth of
the
resonant sideband, 0.34, which is smaller than the design value of 0.47.

Including this and the finite detector response time, more realistic
model
(folding mirror misalignment and ITM/ETM misalignment) is used to
extract
misalignment size. For ITM misalignment case, order of 1~1.5 micron
misalignment
is consistent with the data (preliminary).
 

Cavity Reflectivity

Biplab is at Hanford and, using e2e, he is trying to understand the
cavity reflectivity.

Mechanical Systems models

Hanford teams (Rick, Michael and David) have completed the measurement
of the PSL table motion and calibration runs for it. Gicancarlo has
successfully
downloaded at Italy and is not generating the time series of the motion
of the
PSC reference cavity. Once delivered, Hiro will generate the frequency
noise of
PSL caused by FSS.

alfi

A test version of alfi (e2e GUI program) has been released,
in which many fatal issues have been addressed.
It still have serious problems, but the real release will not
be too far away.

LIGO Data Analysis System

The LDAS build process was greatly enhanced this week by Ed Maros. Ed gave
a very informative presentation on "how-to" build the LDAS software. Many
suggestions were generated and have been incorporated into the build scripts.

LDAS held a conference call this week with VIRGO to discuss the specification
of the Frame Table of Conference. There were several inconsistencies in the
documentation which were preventing development of the FrameCPP library to
support the full version 4 frames with the table of contents. The meeting
resulted in a new revision to the specification document. Alex Ivanov is now
able to move forward on implementing the version 4 compatible FrameCPP I/O
library.

Issues associated with MPICH 1.2 still hinder progress on the parallel MPI
LDAS components. A new memory leak was identified which Masha Barnes has patched
in our development version of MPICH. The bug was reported to MPICH but no word
back from them on the inclusion of the fix in later releases.

The LDAS web pages will be receiving a face lift soon. Kent, Ed, and Albert
met with Barbara to discuss a new LDAS look on the web. Barbara has begun
prototyping a new home page with a more graphical look and feel.

Peter Shawhan worked on his "Guild" graphical user interface to the LDAS
database this week. His efforts turned up several subtle bugs in the LDAS
software and aided in the tracking down of synchronization problems. Look for
a presentation on "Guild" at the LSC meeting next week.

LDAS met with both of its LSC partner teams in development this week. The data-
ConditioningAPI effort has matured to the point where makefiles and TCl
wrappers are being implemented for several filter algorithms. The MPI based
wrapperAPI has organized a schedule time table for developing a complete
working parallel implementation to test the interface with LSC code.

Continuing benchmarks of LDAS software performance have identified a large
slow down in the transmission rate of very large (10MB) ILWD files between
two linux workstations. This performance lag doesn't appear in smaller size
ILWDs and doesn't appear on the sun workstations. However, it is worth
noting that for ILWDs below this critical size the linux platform is about
4 times faster than the suns.

WMajid:

Continuing to work on the Fast Chirp Transform. I am trying to check my
results with a 2d FFT, using the FFTW package. Doing the transform this way
is less efficient but very handy to check my results and also serves as a
baseline for bench marking studies. I have got the machinery in place now
to do the chirp transform in two ways. The plan now is to try this out on
some real data from the 40m and try to understand the various quirks of
this technique.

Julien Sylvestre(MIT):

LIGO 40m/TAMA300 coincidence analysis (Julien Sylvestre)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
JS searched segments of locked data for transients. Preliminary models for the
transfer functions were tested on the identified bursts.

LHO one arm data transient analysis (Julien Sylvestre)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
JS implemented a transients identification pipeline for the one arm LHO data
(spectrogram, bursts id, coincidence between channels, time series extraction).

Stuart Anderson:

Benchmarking the T1 connections to LHO and LLO, maintenance work on
the frame archive, and continued work with the software coordination committee
to define Mock Data Challenges for LDAS+LSC software.

LDAS sysAdmin: (ORashad)

Installing system integrity detection software, tripwire.

Installing UPS monitoring software, powerchute.

Mapping out network ports configuration for Millikan.

General Computing

Livingston: No report.

Hanford: No report

Caltech:

Samantha Bench
- Burned some CD's
- Changed some ips
- Changed some gateways
- Attempted to fix some e-mail

Barbara Kratochwill
- Fixed the freezing problem with the video clips by reloading all the software.  The single-channel audio problem can't be fixed; the original
tapes only have audio on one channel.
- Created graphics, generated html, and posted the as-built drawing web pages for Hanford.
- Installed NT Server on the server for Primavera.
- Added contractor document number to the internal search tool.
- Updated the web page for open construction accounts.  Made other quick web site changes.

Suresh Singh
1. Worked with Larry to troubleshoot this week's sirius crashing problem. The
problem so identified was with a card connecting fibre channel and SCSI board.
We got help from a technical expert from Sun Microsystems to replace all the
four cards with newer version. We were also advised to apply patch to upgrade
firmware in internal disk drives in sirius.
2. Resolved temporary glitches in stacker unit of tape robot by reseting it.
Included LDAS server spica in the list of incremental backups.
3. Installed Solaris 7 in a new Ultra 10 and gave it to Albert for the temporary
use.
4. Set up a new user account and two ppp dial-up accounts.

Larry Wallace
- Worked a number of procurement issues. This weeks hi-lite was a meeting
initiated by Ed Jasnow, with the LIGO buyers, Mr. Mannion from the CIT bookstore
(Caltech Wired) and a few others from the CIT concerned about buying computers
through Caltech Wired. A number of issues were brought up and a few frustrations
were expressed. Presently, we as in LIGO are not restricted in using just
Caltech Wired for computer purchases. We were also promised that many of the
problems we have seen should go away by the end of the month. Ed Jasnow is
continuing to work this issue.
- Worked through a number of IDEAS issues and still have more work in that area.
The configuration files and other reqirments have changed a great deal on this
latest revision. Some testing has shown that it will run under Solaris 7 as well
as Solaris 2.6.
- Worked a number of PC and printer issues. Most of the printers especially the
newer ones are setup for postscript level 2 but a few of the older ones will
only accept level 1. This has caused some problems for people that are using
multiple printers. So far those we have found with this problem have had it
taken care of with modifications to their printer setups.
- Worked with Thomas Frey and Barbara on the LIGOII NT server setup.
- Met with  Alan W.,  Dennis U. and Steve concerning the 40M. After the discussion
to make sure everyone was thinking along the same lines we worked on a few of
the present problems with the computers.
- Worked some problems with the Amaldi server.
- Replaced a couple of the small office network hubs that had burned out.
- Fixed the configuration files of a couple of the network printers.
- Helped a couple of users on travel resolve some issues on their PC's via phone.
- Did some more testing on the ftp1 server and so far it has been performing well.
- Worked a hardware problem on sirius. One of the fiberchannel interface boards
had over-heated. I had SUN replace/upgrade the other three later (Wed) when we
discovered the board version we were using has a history of problems.
- Executed some diagnostic tools on a couple of servers and found a number of
upgrades/patches are needed. Will start having them installed when I return from
Livingston. We still need to filter through the patches to make sure we are not
loading one with problems.
- Setup a couple more PC's.
- Reset luna the CDS server at Wilson house. It too needs a number of patches
loaded and it network connection tested.
 

LIGO II/Advanced R&D (Sanders)

From: Jordan Camp <jordan@ligo.caltech.edu>   Sapphire optic development program.

Substrates have been ordered from Crystal Systems for the following tests to investigate
the suitability of sapphire as an optical material: polishing, substrate
absorption, coating absorption, coating birefringence, silicate bonding, and Q
measurements. The sizes range from 1" dia x 0.25" thick to 6" dia x 3" thick. So
far substrates for substrate absorption tests, and coating absorption and
birefringence tests have arrived. A coating run is being set up for the end of
March to begin tests on coatings applied to sapphire optics. The substrate
absorption samples, taken from sapphire grown from a number of different
starting materials, have been sent to Stanford where absorption measurements are
now underway. As data is obtained from this and other tests I will summarize and
report them here.

From: Rana Adhikari <rana@ligo.mit.edu>   Development of Phase Camera/Wavefront Scanner

In order to to diagnose the cavity mode of the 2k arm, a technique using
galvano scanning mirrors to raster scan the reflected cavity beam across
an RFPD has been developed, in order to 'take a picture' of the beam
reflected from the cavity and examine the spatial distribution of the DC
and RF components.
 

- DAC and ADC code finished.
- Fine adjustment of the scanners and electronics to remove
  artifacts ongoing. Large image artifacts have been removed.
- Development of simple Matlab code to deconvolve mirror surface
  roughness, phi(x,y), has begun.
- Measurement on the 2km cavity in Hanford expected to take place week of
  3/20.
 

From: "Ryan C. Lawrence" <rclawren@ligo.mit.edu>      Core Optics Compensation:

I installed the CO2 laser in it's final resting place, and it is now working.  I
borrowed the phase camera galvos and wrote a VI to measure the beam profile with
a pyroelectric sensor.  I'm now working on characterizing the beam.
 

From: Phil Willems <willems@ligo.caltech.edu>

    Fused silica fiber research:  this week was spent making fibers on our
automated glassworking lathe that will be taken to Moscow for pendulum Q
measurements.  Also needed were packages that could ship the fibers safely and
without damage.  But will they pass customs?  Wait and see. (John Johnson, Phil
Willems)

    Hydroxy-catalysis bonds: the batch of bonds made at Stanford for
strength and reliability tests are now 23 days old, which is half the advertised
curing time. Nearly all the bonds tested so far have held at least 100 kg of
shear on a 1/2-inch round bond area.  A few have not been so good.  While this
batch cures we are preparing new tests, starting with nondestructive tests using
an ultrasonic flaw detector. (Sheila Rowan, Helena Armandula, John Johnson, Phil
Willems)

From: Sam Richman <srichman@ligo.mit.edu>    stiff isolation system report

A Streckeisen STS-2 broadband seismometer, one of the key components of the
stiff isolation system, was operated in vacuum.  Assembly of the prototype
isolator will be begin Thursday 9 March; should have lots to report next week.
 

For additional information about this report, contact sanders@ligo.caltech.edu